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Prison Conditions in the United States PRISON CONDITIONS IN THE UNITED STATES A Human Rights Watch Report Human Rights Watch New York !!! Washington !!! Los Angeles !!! London Copyright 8 November 1991 by Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Excerpts from W.H. Auden: Collected Poems, edited by Edward Mendelson. 8 1975. Edward Mendelson, William Meredith, and Monroe K. Spears, Executors of the Estate of W.H. Auden. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. The Prison Project The Prison Project, established in 1988, cuts across the five regional divisions of Human Rights Watch to focus on a single issue: prison conditions worldwide. The Prison Project has investigated conditions for sentenced prisoners, pre-trial detainees and those held in police lockups. It examines prison conditions for all prisoners, not just political prisoners. The work of the Prison Project is guided by the Prison Advisory Committee, whose chairman is Herman Schwartz. Other members are: Nan Aron, Vivian Berger, Haywood Burns, Alejandro Garro, William Hellerstein, Edward Koren, Sheldon Krantz, Benjamin Malcolm, Diane Orentlicher, Norman Rosenberg, David Rothman and Clarence Sundram. The director of the Project is Joanna Weschler. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Prison conditions in the United States : a Human Rights Watch report. p. cm. ISBN 1-56432-046-4 1. Prisons--United States. I. Human Rights Watch (organization: U.S.) HV9471.P74 1992 365' .973--dc20 91-38949 CIP Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch is composed of the five Watch Committees: Africa Watch, Americas Watch, Asia Watch, Helsinki Watch, and Middle East Watch and the Fund for Free Expression. The executive committee comprises Robert L. Bernstein, chair; Adrian W. DeWind, vice chair; Roland Algrant, Lisa Anderson, Peter Bell, Alice Brown, William Carmichael, Dorothy Cullman, Irene Diamond, Jonathan Fanton, Jack Greenberg, Alice H. Henkin, Stephen Kass, Marina Kaufman, Jeri Laber, Aryeh Neier, Bruce Rabb, Harriet Rabb, Kenneth Roth, Orville Schell, Gary Sick, Robert Wedgeworth. The Staff includes Aryeh Neier, executive director; Kenneth Roth, deputy director; Holly J. Burkhalter, Washington director; Ellen Lutz, California director; Susan Osnos, press director; Jemera Rone, counsel; Dorothy Q. Thomas, Women's Rights Project director; Joanna Weschler, Prison Project director. Executive Directors Africa Watch Americas Watch Asia Watch Rakiya Omaar Juan E. Méndez Sidney R. Jones Helsinki Watch Middle East Watch Fund for Free Expression Jeri Laber Andrew Whitley Gara LaMarche Addresses for Human Rights Watch 485 Fifth Avenue 1522 K Street, NW, #910 New York, NY 10017 Washington, DC 20005 Tel: (212) 972-8400 Tel: (202) 371-6592 Fax: (212_ 972-0905 Fax: (202) 371-0124 10951 West Pico Blvd., #203 90 Borough High Street Los Angeles, CA 90064 London, UK SE1 1LL Tel: (213) 475-3070 Tel: (071) 378-8008 Fax: (213) 475-5613 Fax: (071) 378-8029 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Most of this report was written by Joanna Weschler, the Director of the Prison Project of Human Rights Watch. Theodore Zang, Jr., former counsel with Helsinki Watch, contributed a section. Edward Koren of the ACLU National Prison Project reviewed the manuscript and provided advice along the way. The report was edited by Aryeh Neier, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. Professor Herman Schwartz of American University, the chairman of Human Rights Watch's Prison Advisory Committee, Professor William Hellerstein of Brooklyn Law School and Kenneth Schoen of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, read the manuscript and offered their comments. The report is based on visits to correctional facilities in the continental United States and Puerto Rico, carried out by Ms. Weschler and the following staff, board members and consultants of Human Rights Watch: Raquel Ackerman, Mary Jane Camejo, Holly Cartner, Allyson Collins, Anne Fuller, Robert Kushen, Jeri Laber, Ellen Lutz, Lynda Palevsky, Mike Subit, Diane Wittenberg. A paper on prison litigation by Allison Fletcher, then a student at the American University Law School, provided helpful legal background.1 Our thanks are due to many individuals, prisoner rights advocates, lawyers, inmates, correctional officers, relatives of prisoners and others. We would like to express our particular thanks to the Rev. Joseph Ingle. Ellen Lautenberg and Paige Wilhite provided invaluable research assistance. 1The Legal Aid Society's files were a useful resource in identifying some court cases. v CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................... v PREFACE............................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 3 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................ 11 JAILS..................................................................................................... 17 Pre-Trial Detention ................................................................... 17 Physical Conditions................................................................... 18 Safety ........................................................................................ 20 Disciplinary Measures............................................................... 23 Authorized ................................................................... 23 Unauthorized................................................................ 23 Activities................................................................................... 26 Contacts With the Outside ........................................................ 26 Health........................................................................................ 27 Clothing .................................................................................... 30 Food .......................................................................................... 31 STATE INSTITUTIONS....................................................................... 33 Physical Conditions................................................................... 33 Overcrowding .............................................................. 33 Sanitation and Heating................................................. 35 Safety ........................................................................................ 37 Sexual Abuse ............................................................... 40 Disciplinary Measures............................................................... 43 Authorized ................................................................... 43 Unauthorized................................................................ 52 Activities................................................................................... 54 Living Conditions on Death Row.............................................. 55 Contacts With the Outside ........................................................ 58 Women Inmates ........................................................................ 61 Health........................................................................................ 62 AIDS............................................................................ 65 Clothing .................................................................................... 68 Food .......................................................................................... 69 FEDERAL PRISONS ............................................................................ 71 Physical Conditions................................................................... 71 The Mariel Cubans.................................................................... 73 Disciplinary Measures............................................................... 74 Activities................................................................................... 80 Health........................................................................................ 81 AIDS............................................................................ 84 Smoking....................................................................... 84 Women Inmates ........................................................................ 85 Contacts With the Outside ........................................................ 87 Visits............................................................................ 87 Phone Calls .................................................................. 87 Furloughs ..................................................................... 87 Correspondence............................................................ 88 Food .......................................................................................... 89 INS DETENTION ................................................................................. 91 Physical Conditions................................................................... 93 Clothing .................................................................................... 94 Food .......................................................................................... 94 Activities................................................................................... 94 PRISON LITIGATION IN THE UNITED STATES .......................... 101 History of Prison Litigation..................................................... 101 Substantive Legal Protections for American Prisoners ......... 103 Access to Courts.....................................................................
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